


I Had The Life Of Ordinary, I Spat It Out

by TableForThree



Series: Future Verse [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Children, Curtain Fic, Future Fic, M/M, NOT amnesia, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-05 22:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1099200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TableForThree/pseuds/TableForThree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry Styles falls asleep a sixteen year old boy nervous about his upcoming X-Factor audition that could make or break his career. He wakes up a twenty-six year old man with a husband and two children, and no recollection of the past ten years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Had The Life Of Ordinary, I Spat It Out

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RedOrchid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedOrchid/gifts).
  * Translation into Português brasileiro available: [I Had The Life Of Ordinary, I Spat It Out](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3407132) by [larrysmiling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/larrysmiling/pseuds/larrysmiling)



> IMPORTANT NOTE: I have given a select few people permission to translate this fic and post it on their own sites (tumblr, ff.net, etc). However, I have recently found this fic reposted on wattpad WITHOUT my permission. If you want to translate my fic, please ask me. If you want to repost it, you do NOT have my permission. This is stealing and unacceptable. Please respect this.
> 
> This is for the H/L Holidays challenge and is dedicated to RedOrchid, who provided the prompt I received. Thank you for giving me such an interesting prompt to work with! I chose time-travel, I hope you like it.
> 
> Thanks to the lovely [Rebecca](http://claraception.tumblr.com) who beta'd my work and encouraged me when I was stuck. Title from Sky Ferreira's song 'Obsession'. 
> 
> The lovely tardiscrashing created an amazing podfic for this, you can find it [here.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1107521)
> 
> Merry Christmas!

Harry didn't manage to get to sleep until late, too worked up and excited about the day ahead of him in the morning. He'd been kind of torn about auditioning for the X-Factor. On the one hand, he wanted to get a professional opinion on his singing, someone who wasn't his _mother._ On the other hand, it was likely to be televised and he wasn't sure he'd be able to handle the rejection if they didn't like him. Still, Anne had pushed him until he'd agreed and he was all signed up, there was no getting out of it unless he fell sick or managed to get himself killed beforehand.

He'd fallen asleep in his single bed in his bedroom, surrounded by posters of the Artic Monkeys and photos he'd taken himself. When he woke up, he was in a plush king sized bed in a lavishly decorated room that he didn't recognize at all.

Harry sat up, looking around him and frowning. He had a habit of sleep talking and sleep walking, but he'd never gotten into someone else's bed, especially not even in his own house because the room looked nothing like Anne or Gemma's.

Wherever he was, it looked expensive. The bed was huge, with soft to the touch sheets and a thick, warm blanket that had been shoved to the bottom of the bed and left Harry uncovered. There were abstract looking paintings hanging on the wall, along with photographs that he didn't look too closely at, and a huge flat screen on the other side of the room. Harry glanced around and saw clothes scattered carelessly along the ground, an expensive and foreign looking phone on the night stand, and the door cracked open just a little.

He could hear singing, like the radio was on and someone was joining in, and bright laughter over top of it. It sounded a little distant, probably on the other side of the building, wherever Harry was. He thought maybe he'd wandered into some rich person's house and fallen asleep in a guest bedroom, although the room certainly looked lived in.

Harry sighed, swinging his legs over to the side of the bed and stood up, figuring he should try to sneak out and find his way home, or maybe apologize to the owners of the house and try to get a ride home. He was wearing unfamiliar black boxers, but he didn't really think much of it until he crossed the room and movement caught his eye.

It was himself in the mirror, but not really. The Harry in the mirror looked wildly different, tall where Harry was short, lean and muscled where Harry still had baby fat. There were tattoos all over his chest and arms, some even on his feet and ankles. This Harry looked older with longer, less curly hair and just so completely different from what Harry was used to that he spent over a minute just gaping at himself in the mirror.

Harry looked down at himself and sure enough, there were swallows on his chest and a butterfly over his abs- _he had abs for Christ's sake_ \- and the mirror wasn't somehow lying or tricking him. He looked like he'd aged overnight and the difference to what Harry had looked like before he'd fallen asleep was startling.

"What the hell?" he muttered to himself, and even his voice was different, deeper. He scratched at the butterfly- _or was it a moth?_ \- on his belly to make sure it wasn't a temporary tattoo someone had stuck on him as a joke. Nothing flaked off under his fingernails and he took a deep breath, trying to quell the rising panic he could feel in his throat.

 

"Harry!" someone called, sounding distant but getting closer. The voice was definitely male but was much higher than his own. "Hurry up, breakfast is getting cold."

Harry startled, and crazily enough his first thought was to cover himself up. He was too overwhelmed to do much else and he hurriedly rooted through the clothes on the ground until he found a long pair of black skinny jeans that looked like it would fit this weird, lean body he was in. He struggled a bit to put them on and by the time he'd zipped and buttoned, the bedroom door was pushed open.

"Are you only just getting dressed?" the person on the other side said, leaning against the door frame and looking amused. "Its not like you to be lazy, Harry."

The person was male, with feathered brown hair half heartedly gelled up into a quiff and random tattoos decorating his decidedly curvy body. Blue eyes looked at Harry like he knew him, and while Harry had to admit the man was definitely attractive, he'd never met the person before in his life.

"Uhm," he said, eloquent as ever.

The brunet man rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his- _bare_ \- chest, blatantly giving Harry a once over. "C'mon, Haz, its your turn to help with Annie today."

Harry just stared at him, wondering why he was in a strange house in an unfamiliar body with a complete stranger treating him like they knew each other. "Annie?" he finally managed after a moment.

The man rolled his eyes again, exasperated smile on his lips. "Yes, Annie," he said with a chuckle. "Our daughter? Jesus, Harry, are you drunk or something?"

"Daughter?" Harry repeated incredulously, his voice going a little high pitched and actually sounding a bit normal. He shook his head, backing away from the man in the doorway and sat down heavily on the bed. His felt a little dizzy, because he couldn't have just walked into this person's house in the middle of the night. They _knew_ him, and apparently thought they had a _child_ with him.

"Harry?" the man said, his brow furrowing in concern. They crossed the room and stood in front of him, reaching out to press a hand to Harry's forehead. "Are you okay?"

Harry flinched away from the touch automatically, staring up at the man with wide eyes. No, he wasn't okay. He didn't know what the fuck was happening and right then he was kind of desperately wanting his mother or sister. "Who are you?" he choked out.

The man looked taken aback, and he actually stepped back a little before his expression changed, a kind of half scared half angry that didn't suit his features. "Harry," he said warning. "This isn't funny. I've left Annie downstairs with Luke and I need to get back to them."

"Look," Harry said, breathing through his nose and fighting off the urge to cry with frustration, because how did this person even know his name? "I don't know who you are or who Annie or Luke are and I just really need to call my Mum."

The man was silent for a few moments before rubbing a hand over his face. "You're not fucking around, are you?" he said slowly.

"I'm not," Harry said, reaching up and tugging at his own hair in annoyance. "I don't know where I am, I don't know who you are and I don't know how I got all these fucking tattoos."

The brunet breathed out slowly, fixing Harry with a look. "Okay, okay, calm down," he said, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder and looking a little hurt when he flinched away again. "What’s the last thing you remember, love?"

Harry rubbed his hands over his thighs, relaxing now that the stranger was taking him seriously and maybe he could get some answers. "I went to bed in my bedroom," he said, thinking back. "Uhm, around one in the morning? It took me a while to get to sleep because of the… oh, fuck, I have my audition today. What time is it?"

The man looked a little started and he pulled out a phone that Harry had never seen the likes of before, but it looked expensive. "It's ten in the morning," he replied slowly. "What audition are you talking about?"

"The X-Factor," Harry explained shortly, standing up and searching for a shirt. "Look, I'm sorry but I've really got to go. I'm late and my Mum will be going crazy trying to find me."

"Harry," the man said exasperatedly, grabbing Harry's arm. "The X-Factor? Really? How old do you think you are?"

Harry stopped and turned to face him, frowning at the question. "Sixteen," he answered, and really, that just proved this guy didn't know him.

"Haz," the man said softly, giving him a weird look. "You're twenty six."

Harry stared at him for a moment, snorted incredulously, and then just continued staring because the brunet looked completely serious. "This isn't funny," he said after a moment. "Who the hell are you, anyway?"

The man narrowed his eyes, letting go of Harry's arm and crossing his over his chest. "I'm your husband," he said shortly. At Harry's blank look he sighed. "Louis. Louis Tomlinson."

"I'm sorry but I'm not married," Harry said bluntly, shaking his head. "And I don't know you, and I'm not twenty six."

"Harry, you're scaring me," Louis said in a low voice. He reached for Harry's hand and brought it up to his face. Harry could see the ring on his own left ring finger, solid gold band sitting there like it belonged. "Do you seriously not remember me? Your kids?"

Harry pulled his hand away and shook his head, trying to ignore the weird feeling he'd had when he'd seen the tiny word inscribed in the metal of his ring- _HI-_ and took a step back. "No, I don't."

"Fuck," Louis said quietly, and then there was a crash from somewhere else in the house and high pitched crying soon followed. "Oh, shit, shit."

"What was that?" Harry asked.

"Fuck, the kids, I shouldn't have left them on their own this long," Louis said turning and striding to the door. "Look, I'll explain everything soon but I have to make sure they're okay."

Harry sighed and nodded, following Louis out the door and through the house. It was quite spacious and obviously expensive, the décor tasteful and probably chosen by a professional rather than Louis unless the man was an interior decorator or something. But it was modest, too, with plenty of framed photographs along the wall and an abundance of polished wood.

Louis led him into the kitchen, an open spaced area with a marble island and a table with chairs. There was a toddler sitting in a high chair, screaming her lungs out and Louis went to her first, picking her up and holding her to his chest. There was also a little boy, standing next to a smashed plate near the fridge and looking guilty.

"Luke, what did you do?" Louis sighed, bouncing the baby gently and patting her back.

"It slipped," the little boy replied with a pout, going over to Harry and wrapping his little arms around his middle. "Daddy, I didn't mean to, please don't be mad at me."

Harry stared down at Luke with wide eyes and looked up at Louis, who was watching them closely. "Uhm," Harry said, and he felt himself relax a little because he might not know this kid, but he was good with children. "It's okay, love, I'm sure it was an accident."

Louis smiled a little and glanced over at the large clock hung above the oven. "Damn it," he muttered. "Zayn and Perrie are coming to take Luke and Annie soon and she hasn't been fed."

"I can feed Annie," Harry offered without really thinking. Louis looked so relieved, though, that he didn't think he could really take it back without feeling guilty.

"Thank you," Louis said, handing the screaming baby over to Harry and wincing at her cries. "She's just hungry, her breakfast is in the microwave. I've got to get Luke ready."

Annie was still crying but she'd calmed at least a little, pressed up against Harry's chest with her face resting against his neck. He could feel his skin wetting with her tears and it was somewhat of an uncomfortable experience, but he wasn't paying much attention because he was just staring incredulously as Louis picked up Luke and left the room, leaving Harry and Annie alone.

Harry breathed out slowly, bouncing Annie a little in his arms. There were practical jokes, and then there was leaving a baby alone with a boy she'd never met. Harry highly doubted Louis would just up and leave Annie with him on their own unless he seriously trusted Harry and… Fuck. It was too much for him to think about.

Annie wailed and slapped her little palm against Harry's chest and he decided to just focus on the here and now. "Okay, okay," he said hurriedly, walking to the microwave and opening it. "I'll get you something to eat, sweetheart, calm down."

The baby mash was cold so he heated it up for half a minute before getting Annie situated in her high chair. He'd had a little experience with kids from babysitting over the years, but he hadn't had much of a chance to feed a toddler and he soon found out it wasn't as easy as it sounded. Annie took ages to swallow just one spoonful of the stuff, and at some points it took serious convincing to get her to open her mouth for the spoon at all.

Louis came back after ten minutes, Luke trailing behind him properly dressed and holding a dinosaur toy. The brunet glanced at Annie and sighed, holding his hand out for a spoon. "She's always been fussy, I'll do it."

"Are you sure?" Harry said, but he was already handing the utensil over and standing back.

"Yeah, yeah, she knows you'd let her get away with it anyway so its just better if I do it," Louis answered, holding the spoon up to Annie's mouth. She opened straight away and Harry felt a twinge of annoyance that she'd done so when he'd been trying for a couple of minutes to get her to do just that.

"Papa, can I watch cartoons until Uncle Zayn gets here?" Luke asked, standing in the doorway with his toy.

"Alright," Louis answered, sparing Luke a glance. "But don't mess up the living room, your Daddy just cleaned it yesterday."

"Okay!" Luke answered, already turning and running into a different room.

Harry hovered awkwardly for a few moments before taking a chair at the table, nothing else to do but watch Louis feed Annie. He wondered whether his mother and sister were trying to find him, or if they knew what was happening and weren't worried.

"How old is he?" Harry asked after a moment. "Luke, I mean."

Louis glanced at him, brows furrowing, before looking back at Annie. "He's seven," he answered slowly. "You really don't remember anything, huh?"

"No," Harry said, shaking his head. Louis seemed to be under the impression that he'd lost memories or something, and he had to admit that maybe that was a plausible idea. He could try and convince himself it was all just a big joke all he wanted, but that wouldn't explain how different he looked. How much he'd grown, all the tattoos, the muscles. "So, uhm, he's my son and you're my… husband?"

Louis pressed his lips together, forming a thin line, and didn't answer for a few moments as he wiped Annie's chin with a cloth. "Yeah, Haz," he said eventually. "Obviously he's not biologically related to either of us. We adopted him. Same with Annie."

Harry pressed his fingers to his temples, shutting his eyes. "Look, Louis, I don't…" he let out a sigh. "I'm having a really tough time trying to process all of this. I really need to call my Mum."

Louis set the bowl of baby mash and the spoon down on the table, far enough away so Annie couldn't get to it. He pulled his phone from his track pants and held it out, looking tired. "Anne is number six on speed dial."

Harry hesitated before taking the phone and standing up. "I'll, uhm, take the call in a different room, if that's okay."

Louis just nodded and went back to Annie. "Don't get lost," he said quietly, picking up the bowl again.

Harry felt a twinge of guilt, because not recognising this person was obviously causing him some pain. But it wasn't like he could help it, he genuinely didn't remember ever meeting Louis in his life. He wandered out of the kitchen, past the living room where he could see Luke watching cartoons, and into a small room that looked like a study. It wasn't really even that small, but compared to the rest of the house it was.

Harry closed the door behind him and turned to look at the room. There was a bookshelf against one wall, a window on the other. A desk with  a computer and several different laptops was on the other side of the room and there was a couch pushed into one corner. He caught sight of several photographs lining the walls and Harry moved closer to one to get a better look.

He barely recognized himself, because in the photo he was like what he was now- tall, tattooed, lean. There were five men in the photo, including himself, and he easily recognized Louis as the small brunet beside him. On Louis' other side was a slightly taller blond wearing a huge grin. On Harry's other side was a darker skinned man, obviously of a different ethnicity, and a man who Harry genuinely mistook for Justin Timberlake before he realized it was just a pretty good look alike.

The five of them were all smiling widely and Louis was holding up a shiny looking award. They were all dressed up and it looked like they were on a stage, and Harry vaguely wondered what the story was behind the picture.

Sighing, he sat down on the couch and looked at Louis' phone. It was definitely one he'd never seen before, and it took him a while to figure out how to navigate it. When he'd finally managed to get it to call Anne, he held it up to his ear and waited.

"Louis!" his mother picked up, sounding worried. "What's going on, love? I thought you and Harry were using this day to just be by yourselves for a while?"

"Mum?" Harry said hesitantly, and. Oh. His mother obviously knew this Louis person, and thought Harry did too.

"Harry, love?" Anne said, sounding confused. "Why are you calling me on Louis' phone?"

"Mum, I don't know what's going on," Harry said, and his voice went suddenly thick with unshed tears because he was so _lost_ and he just wanted to _understand_. "I just- I just woke up in this strange house and I don't know anyone and-"

His voice had been steadily rising with panic and a few tears managed to slip out. "Harry," Anne cut him off, alarmed. "Slow down, sweetheart, what are you talking about?"

"I, uhm," Harry scrubbed at his face, trying to force back the tears. "Mum, how old am I?"

"Harry, what are you talking ab-"

"Mum," he interrupted. "How old am I?"

"Darling, you're twenty six," Anne said slowly. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Oh fuck," Harry whispered, covering his face with his free hand. "Mum, I don't. The last thing I- the last thing I remember is going to bed the night before my X-Factor audition. And then I wake up in this strange house with this complete stranger telling me I'm his husband and-"

"Shh," Anne said soothingly. "Calm down, it's okay, sweetheart. Do you want me to drive down? Or Gemma maybe? Zayn and Perrie are taking the kids, right?"

"Uhm, yeah," he said, letting out a little breath. "Yeah, I think that's what Louis said. The kids are going _somewhere."_

"Alright, I can be down in three hours, depending on the traffic," Anne told him. "But in the meantime, Harry, have you told Louis that you can't remember anything?"

Harry nodded, relaxing a little because his mother was coming and she was going to make everything right. Or at least make things less confusing, less like he'd been thrown into a strange world where he knew nothing. "Yeah, he knows that I have no idea what's going on. He said he'd explain once he'd gotten the kids sorted."

"Good, okay," Anne said. "I know you feel like you don't know him, but listen to him, okay? Louis will take care of you, he has since you were sixteen."

"I _am_ sixteen, Mum," Harry groaned, pulling at his hair.

Anne sighed through the phone. "Yes, well, you met him at your X-Factor auditions, so…" she paused. "Louis can explain everything, I'm not really the right person to do that. Stay safe, okay? I'll see you in a couple of hours."

Harry sighed and they hung up, and then he just stared down at the phone in his hands for a while. He guessed that if he was actually twenty six, then the model was probably one he'd never seen before because it was incredibly technologically advanced from the phones he was used to.

Reluctantly, Harry made his way back into the kitchen, but Louis and Annie weren't there. For a second he panicked, wondering if they'd left him on his own in an unfamiliar place, but when he went to the living room where he had last seen Luke he found them. Louis, who now had a shirt on, had Annie on his lap and he was buttoning up her baby blue coat that genuinely looked like it cost more than Harry's phone. And looking around the room, Harry was starting to realize that Louis was actually fucking rich. He wondered what the hell he did for a living.

"Hey, uhm," Harry said awkwardly, approaching them and holding out Louis' phone. "Thanks for letting me use this. Mum is gonna drive down to see me."

Louis took the phone with a weary smile, slipping it into his pocket and then patting Luke's leg, who was sitting beside him and staring at the television. "Hear that, Luke? Grandma's gonna be here when you get home."

Luke tore his eyes away from the screen and looked up at him. "Which one?"

"Daddy's mum," Louis said with a fond eye roll, ruffling Luke's hair and then standing, Annie in his arms. "Zayn and Perrie should be here soon, Zee just texted."

"Right," Harry said, nodding and stepping a little closer to Louis so he could lower his voice, even though Luke had gone back to the television and wasn't paying any them attention anymore. "And, uhm, who are they again?"

Louis blinked at him, looking thrown for a moment before he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Zayn is one of our best friends," he answered after a short pause. "Perrie is his wife."

"Oh," Harry said quietly. He hadn't been expecting that. "S'just. You said 'Uncle' Zayn, so I assumed he'd be your brother, or something."

Louis chuckled a little but he still looked worn out, looking at Harry like he was upset and. Okay, yeah, having a husband that wakes up one day not knowing who you are would probably be a bit upsetting. Harry understood a little.

"Nah," Louis said, shaking his head. "I've only got one brother and he's only little. The rest are sisters, mate. But he's like a brother. All the boys are."

"All the boys?" Harry asked, thinking back to the picture he'd seen of himself, Louis and three other men, but before Louis could answer him the doorbell rang, shrill and loud throughout the house.

"Bloody hell," Louis grumbled, heading out of the living room and towards the door. "I've been meaning to get someone to make that quieter. Luke, come on, Zayn and Pez are here."

Luke reluctantly jumped up and, with one last glance towards the television, he hurried after Louis. Harry shifted, not really knowing what to do. In the end he walked over to the television and switched it off before following them.

Louis had the front door open and was talking and smiling with a couple on the front doorstep. The man, Harry assumed he was Zayn, was definitely one of the boys in the photo he'd seen. His inky hair was done up in a quiff and he was wrapped up in a thick coat with a red scarf and matching gloves. The girl beside him, Perrie, had soft blonde hair that fell to her mid-back and she was similarly bundled up. Perrie was holding Annie and cooing at her as Louis talked, and Zayn's eyes lit up when he caught sight of Harry awkwardly hovering behind Louis.

"Harry!" Zayn grinned, and Harry really had no choice but to step closer, beside Louis, and be engulfed in a hug by this person he didn't know. "Why aren't you wearing a shirt, mate? It’s a bit cold to be walking around half naked."

Now that he could see outside, Harry did notice there was a thin layer of snow coating the grass and roads and cars just out the door. "Erm," he said awkwardly, patting Zayn on the back until he let go. "Just haven't gotten around to it, I guess."

"Perrie," Louis spoke up, glancing at Harry like he could tell how uncomfortable he was. "Would you mind taking Luke and Annie to the car? Haz and I really need to talk to Zayn about something."

Perrie glanced between them, her eyebrows raising, and she pursed her pink, glossed lips. "Alright, but I really hope its not one of those weird secrets you always have that I'm not allowed in on."

"No, no," Louis shook his head, waving a hand. "Zayn can tell you later, I just…"

He nodded towards Luke, who wasn't even paying attention, and Perrie smiled a little. "Yeah, of course, Lou," she said, holding out her hand to Luke. "Come on, then, I think I have some gummy bears in the glove box."

Once Perrie had taken the kids and gotten them settled in the backseat of a black range rover parked in the driveway, Zayn turned to them and raised his eyebrows. "What's up?" he asked. "Everything okay?"

"Not really," Louis replied, leaning against the door frame and he looked more worn out that ever. "Harry here can't remember the last ten years."

Zayn stared at Louis for a moment, his lips quirking uncertainly, and he looked at Harry too before shaking his head. "Seriously, though, what's wrong?"

"He's not joking," Harry said in a low voice, because Louis was starting to look stressed. "I have no idea who you are, mate."

"Wait, shit, really?" Zayn asked, and he even snapped his fingers in front of Harry's eyes as if it would magically jumpstart his memories. "What was the first song we sang together on the X-Factor?"

Harry furrowed his eyebrows and even Louis rolled his eyes at that. "We just told you, I don't remember any- wait, we sang together on the X-Factor?"

"Did he hit his head or something?" Zayn asked Louis, giving Harry a funny look.

"I don't know," Louis shrugged. "He never mentioned anything to me last night. He seemed fine, and then when I come in this morning to get him to help me with Annie, he's standing there freaking out and saying he has no idea who I am."

"Fuck," Zayn said simply, and Louis made an agreeing noise.

"I'm right here, you know," Harry muttered, somewhat annoyed.

Louis glanced at him and then nodded, sighing and straightening up again. "Okay, Zayn, we'll see you later when you bring the kids back, okay? I've gotta explain everything to Harry."

Zayn snorted, corner of his mouth twitching into a wry smile. "Good luck with that," he said, shaking his head and then looking at Harry. "You've got a lot to be explained."

Harry frowned a little and Louis rolled his eyes, pushing at Zayn's shoulder. "Go on, go spend time with your wife," he said, shaking his head.

Zayn laughed and took a couple of steps back. "We'll see you later, Lou," he said with a smile and he glanced at Harry. "You too, Haz. I hope you remember shit soon otherwise the press is going to go crazy."

"Have a good time, Zayn," Louis replied, waving at him before shutting the door and leaning against it with a sigh.

"Press?" Harry asked, hesitant and wary. Louis just groaned and tipped his head up to stare at the ceiling.

_-_-

Louis came back from the other room, sitting on the couch next to Harry and placing the laptop he'd retrieved onto the coffee table in front of them. Harry glanced at it and then back up to Louis, furrowing his brows a little. "What, are there, like, videos on there of our wedding or something?"

Wedding. The word tasted foreign in his mouth. But then again, yesterday he'd been a sixteen year old kid who'd never found himself overly interested in girls and was too scared to even think about the boys from his school.

"Something like that," Louis mumbled, giving Harry a lopsided smile before turning serious again. "Alright, so, I figure I should just give you a very basic rundown and then let you ask questions. Okay?"

"Okay," Harry agreed, nodding slowly.

"Alright, so," Louis paused, giving a little sigh and running a hand through his hair. "We met at the X-Factor auditions. We kind of ran into each other in a bathroom and became friends, and then we got put together in a group with Zayn and two other boys."

Harry nodded again, thinking back to the picture of the five of them. He guessed the blonde man and the one who looked like Justin Timberlake were the other boys.

"We came third," Louis explained, looking off slightly to Harry's left like he was recalling the memories. "You named the band, we were called One Direction. Kind of expected it to fade away once the X-Factor finished but we kind of exploded. We put out a song and it just…"

He shook his head, laughing a little and reaching for the laptop. He opened it and pulled up youtube, typing in 'One Direction What Makes You Beautiful' and then just handing it to Harry.

The video opened to a beach and Harry was a little confused at first. He saw that the view counter was over ten million, and that number scared him a little as he focused back on the video. There were short scenes of himself walking along a beach with four other guys, and this version of himself he recognized. Shorter, more baby fat, curlier hair that swooped across his forehead to the right. He was wearing an outfit he wouldn't normally, though, and he couldn't help but wrinkle his nose at it.

The boy walking next to him in stripes and red trousers was familiar and he frowned a little before glancing over at Louis and realizing that- oh. This blue eyed man was the boy in the video, and fuck he had been a twink. He could definitely imagine himself going for someone like that, and frankly he wasn't surprised in the least that he had apparently managed to marry him.

When a boy with curly hair to rival his own and deep brown eyes started singing, Harry covered his mouth to stop himself from laughing. Fuck, it was mindless pop and pretty boys jumping around and singing. No wonder it had so many views. His smile vanished when the camera cut to himself and he was singing, obviously autotuned because he wasn't _that_ good. He was a little in disbelief because here he was, singing in a music video that had over ten million views, and he didn't remember a thing.

_Everyone else in the room can see it, everyone else but you._

He recognized Zayn in the video, though he looked more boyish and his hair wasn't as perfectly styled. He was clean shaven, too, and he just looked so much younger. Which would make sense because apparently this video was from ten or so years ago.

He couldn't help but notice that more often than not, he and Louis would be right next to each other. Whether they were standing and singing or running along the beach, they always tended to be closer to each other than the other boys.

Harry made a face when he saw himself singing and staring into some strange girl's eyes, and he glanced over to Louis who was watching fondly. "I've never liked girls," he said with a small frown.

"Try telling our old management that," Louis said with a shrug, gesturing back to the video. "Keep watching."

When the video finished Harry just stared, noticing that a bunch of other music videos for 'One Direction' had popped up. "So, we…" he looked at the view count again and shook his head. He couldn't believe a video of him and a bunch of other boys singing about girls and jumping around on a beach could possibly be so popular. "We're in a band? And we were successful?"

Louis snorted out a laugh. "You could say that," he said quietly. "We're not a band anymore, though. We broke up a year and or so ago. It was getting too hard for us to keep making music and raise Luke at the same time."

Harry nodded slowly and looked back at the laptop. Louis leaned over and dragged his finger across the mouse pad and clicked on a different video, once called 'Kiss You' this time. Harry wasn't surprised in the least- it seemed from the last video that they were a boyband so of course their songs would be generic enough to appeal to teenaged girls everywhere.

Almost as soon as it started Harry had to cover his mouth again, trying and failing not to laugh. "Was the animation supposed to be awful?" he asked, glancing over to Louis.

Louis laughed as well and raised his eyebrows. "It was, actually. You have a few tattoos in this one as well, just so you know."

Harry stared at himself on the laptop screen and shook his head slowly. "Is that a handkerchief in my blazer pocket?" he asked, biting back an incredulous noise. He looked ridiculous. He could easily recognize Louis in the video now, dancing in a car with the blonde kid. His hair was up in a sort of quiff and in a buttoned up red shirt, he looked good. Harry decided to keep that thought to himself.

Just before the chorus hit he saw himself run his fingers over Zayn's nipples and he raised his eyebrows, glancing over at Louis again. "I guess we didn't really care much about personal space."

"We lived in each other's back pockets for years," Louis shrugged. "That is literally nothing."

Video Harry turned his head to look at Video Louis as he was singing the lines _And let me kiss you_ and Harry tried not to flush in embarrassment. He'd never been particularly subtle when he found someone attractive, and he'd be surprised if Louis hadn't noticed it straight away.

When the scene changed to all of them in trunks and standing on surfboards, Harry let his eyes roam his body. He did look older in this one, his hair a little less chaotic and he could see the various tattoos scattered along his left shoulder and arm. He looked down at himself, though, frowning when he couldn't place the love banner tattoo on himself.

"Why'd I cover up that tattoo with a sparrow?" he asked, pausing the video.

"It’s kind of ties in with a longish story," Louis said quietly, eyes dropping to Harry's sparrows. "They're supposed to be you and me, you know. The bigger one is you, that one is me. You thought you were pretty smart when you came up with the idea."

Harry glanced down at them and yeah, now that he was looking one of the birds was bigger than the other. He was a little shocked that he'd actually tattooed on himself something that would always remind him of another person, but then, things had apparently worked out with Louis if they were married with kids. He wouldn't be surprised if there were more tattoos to do with him somewhere on his body.

"Oh," he said softly and unpaused the video. He noticed that Video Louis didn't have any tattoos on him, as opposed to him now where Harry could see a compass on his arm and several over ink doodles. He liked the way they looked against his skin as much as he liked the way Video Louis looked, all tanned and bare.

Harry chuckled a little at the end of the video, seeing Video Zayn kiss Video Harry's cheek and yeah. They definitely all had personal space issues but he figured he hadn't minded it. He'd always been a cuddly, touchy-feely person.

"So we were in a band," Harry summed up. "And we were successful, and we got married and adopted two kids. That’s basically what's been happening the last ten years?"

Louis nodded, shutting the laptop and putting it down on the coffee table. "That's the watered down version, yeah. I had to let you know because I'm gonna have to take you to a specialist to see what's going on in that head of yours, and there's probably going to be paps."

Harry watched him, rubbing his hands over his thighs. "You think I hit my head or something? Got amnesia or something like that?"

Louis sighed and stood up, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know, Harry, but for whatever reason you don't remember ten years of your life and that's not exactly normal."

"Maybe I've just travelled ten years into the future and possessed the future me's body," Harry joked softly, and it earned him a tired smile.

_-_-

Harry sat in the doctors office, Louis in the chair next to him, and just stared at the wall silently. Louis had told him what to expect, that the paps would hound them relentlessly because as he put it, they were 'a pretty big deal' when they'd come out.

It'd still been a shock. The strange men with cameras shouting at them and following them from the car and to the specialist's building, asking why they were going there and if their marriage was crumbling and if Harry was going to start a solo career. Louis had just muttered to Harry to ignore it and taken his hand, pulling him past the paps and into the building.

And then he'd had to have all these weird tests done and it'd taken over an hour and he just kind of wanted to go back to the house and wait for Anne to get there.

Louis turned in his seat, looking at Harry with a worried expression. "Are you okay?" he asked, fingers twisting absentmindedly at the wedding ring on his left hand. "The fucking paps can get really aggressive, especially now that we're not kids and not in the spotlight anymore so they're less likely to get shit for it."

Harry shrugged. It'd been a bit scary, yeah, but Louis had gotten him through the hordes of paps without getting hurt and really he was just a bit shaken. And a little in shock that people would actually care so much about his life, he wasn't even that interesting.

"I'm okay," he replied, looking over at Louis and his eyes dropped to the man's wedding ring. "Why does your ring have _OOPS_ on it? Why does mine have _HI_ for that matter?"

Louis stared at him for a moment and then sighed, dropping his hands onto his lap and obscuring the ring from view. "First words we spoke to each other," he said quietly. "We're both disgustingly sentimental about these things."

"Oh," Harry said softly. And that was… it was cheesy as hell and, like Louis had said, disgustingly sentimental. But it was also sweet and obviously meant something to him and Harry was glad that, if he was thrown into a future without any warning, Louis was the one to be his husband.

"Alright, Mr Tomlinson," the specialist, an old man with glasses and greying hair who'd introduced himself as Dr Craig, walked back into the room. He settled down behind his desk and set a bunch of files onto his desk. "I've been looking over your results."

Harry nodded at him but he wasn't paying much attention. He leaned over to Louis and whispered, "Tomlinson? I took your name?" and Louis just snorted and elbowed him.

"There's nothing wrong with your brain," Dr Craig told him, frowning at Harry. "You don't seem to have amnesia or any kind of memory loss. Its as if you've never even lived the last ten years, at least in terms of your brain, so there were no memories to lose in the first place. Mentally, you're sixteen years old."

Louis and Harry both frowned, Louis leaning forward in his chair. "So what does that mean? Is he going to remember anything?"

"There's nothing to remember," Dr Craig answered, his tone soft. "His brain hasn't matured past sixteen years old, the memories that should be there _aren't_. In amnesia patients usually they're just locked away and with time and patience you might be able to trigger them, but the slates been wiped clean. There's nothing there."

Louis breathed out heavily, his face contorting into an anguished expression before he managed to hide it. "Alright, thank you. I trust you know to keep this private."

"Yes, I know, I'll be the only one to see these files," Dr Craig answered, tapping the folder on his desk before standing. "I really am sorry, Mr Tomlinson, but at the very least your husband is still healthy. It could have been a lot worse."

Louis ran a hand over his face and nodded before shaking Dr Craig's hand and then taking Harry's arm. "I know," he said quietly. "Thank you for your time."

They were out the door before Harry could say his own thank you's and he just followed Louis silently. He didn't know this man, but he could tell he was upset and Harry didn't want to do anything to upset him further.

They had to go past paps again and once again Louis laced their fingers together as they pushed past them. Harry thought it was probably for the cameras benefit- so no one would suspect anything was wrong behind closed doors. But still, it comforted him to have someone guiding him through the crowds of yelling men and flashing cameras. It grounded him and kept him calm.

He could do a lot worse than Louis Tomlinson.

_-_-

When they got back to the house and away from prying eyes, Harry shifted uncomfortably in the hallway as Louis took off his coat and scarf, hanging them up by the door. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do or say, didn't even know if Louis wanted him around. He supposed he could wander the house and watch television or something, but part of him wanted to stay with the brunet and just get to know him. They were supposed to be husbands, after all.

"Come on, then," Louis said, trailing into the kitchen, and Harry followed after him, not knowing what else to do. "I'll make us some lunch since you haven't exactly eaten today."

"Alright," Harry said hesitantly, stopping by the table as Louis went over to the fridge. "Do you need any help?"

"I'm not totally incompetent anymore," Louis said with a small eye roll. "I can make you something simple. Mac and Cheese, or something."

Harry smiled a little at that, even though he felt like it was an inside joke with the other Harry. The one Louis had married, the one Harry had kind of replaced. He was practically an intruder in his own skin and he kind of hated it.

"Liam and Niall texted, by the way," Louis said lightly as he pulled out a box and read over the instructions on the back. "Niall's still in Ireland with Greg, Denise and Theo, but Liam wants to come see you tomorrow. You think you're up for that?"

"Who the hell are Liam and Niall?" Harry asked, perplexed.

Louis glanced at him and a tired smile tugged at his lips. "The two other boys we got put in a group with."

"Oh," Harry said quietly. "Which one is which? There was that blond and the, erm, Justin Timberlake look alike?"

Louis smiled genuinely at that as he turned away to pour the Mac and Cheese in a bowl, and Harry even caught a soft chuckle. "Niall's the blond. Liam is the, ah, Justin Timberlake look alike, as you put it."

"Well, yeah I guess so," Harry said after a moment. "As long as he realizes I wont have any idea who he is."

"He knows," Louis said lightly, his back to Harry. "Listen, I know this is probably stressful for you and I can give you any information you need but… I think it would be best if you pretended like nothing is wrong for Luke."

Harry blinked at that and slowly shook his head. "He's going to talk to me about things I won't know about," he said quietly. He wanted to be able to, though- who wanted to let a kid know that one of their fathers didn't remember them?

"I'll try to tun interference," Louis said softly, turning to face Harry and. Oh. He looked so upset and stressed and worried that Harry automatically wanted to go to him and hug him tight. He wondered briefly if that was his own response or the body that he was currently living in. "I'll interrupt if you don't know the answer to something. Just… Luke's already got enough on his plate."

Harry nodded quickly, anything to get the distressed look off Louis' face. "Yeah, okay, I wont say anything to him," he said. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, just some kids at school giving him grief," Louis sighed, going over to the cupboard to get out a bowl. "Thank you, though. He really needs a sense of normalcy at home."

Harry nodded again, slowly this time, and thought that over. He'd always had a tough time in his childhood. No one had really understood the goofy curly haired kid who'd rather stare at the clouds than play football. Even though he didn't know Luke, he was kind of upset that his kid was getting the same treatment he had when he was a child. Wouldn't having two famous fathers _protect_ him from that?

Louis set a bowl in front of him, and handed Harry a fork. "Lunch is served," he said with a small smile, and he looked a little less stressed now. Harry was thankful that Annie was just a baby and wouldn't be able to tell that he didn't know her, didn't remember her. Pretending for one child was enough.

"Thanks," Harry said, returning the smile and digging in to the Mac and Cheese. It was good, tasted exactly like the way he generally liked his done. He guessed that maybe Louis had spent ten years perfecting that. "Aren't you going to eat?"

Louis shook his head, leaning against the counter facing him and just watching him eat. It should have been creepy but it felt homey. "I already had breakfast before I went to wake you up, and I'm not really all that hungry."

"Oh," Harry said quietly, chewing for a few moments. He wanted to know his past, wanted to figure out how he'd gotten here, in this giant house with two kids and a gorgeous husband. With paps clamouring to get a picture of him and three ex-bandmates that were supposedly his best friends. "Louis, you  said when I asked about the sparrows that it tied into a long story. We still have an hour or so before Mum gets here…"

"You want to know how we got together," Louis sighed, pushing away from the counter and taking a seat at the table, across from Harry. "That's basically what the story is. We didn't exactly have the easiest time of it."

And. Two gay band members in a band that seemed to cater for teenaged girls. Harry suddenly realized _why_ the paps had been so desperate to learn about their marriage. _Why_ Louis had said they'd been a big deal when they'd come out of the closet. It would have been huge, unheard of.

"Okay," Harry said after a moment. "Tell me."

"I'll give you the watered down version, I guess," Louis said softly, glancing down at his hands which were resting on top of the table. "I had a girlfriend when I tried out for the X-Factor but that was only because I was still in the closet, even to myself. I kind of suspected I liked guys but I was so desperate for it to not be true that I started dating Hannah."

Harry nodded at that. He understood how it felt to be scared that you were different. When Harry had figured out he liked boys as well as girls… He'd been so worried that it was just another thing that would make him a target for mockery. But at sixteen, he'd come to terms with his sexuality. He guessed sixteen year old Louis hadn't. Or, however old Louis had been when he tried out for the X-Factor.

"She was great, but…" Louis shrugged and sighed. "I got put into a group with you and the other boys and suddenly it wasn't enough anymore. After we finished the X-Factor and things got huge, I kind of realized I cared for you more than I'd cared for any of my girlfriends. I broke up with Hannah and a couple of weeks later we started dating."

"But we didn't go public?" Harry guessed. He'd been told earlier that he and Louis had only come out a few years ago. If they'd started dating just after the X-Factor, that meant they'd spent a few years in the closet.

"No," Louis said, shaking his head. "We were young and stupid, and we thought we'd be able to so we told our management that we were dating. They told us in no uncertain terms were we allowed to tell anyone other than family and the boys, and that we had to act straight. We didn't want to, but they told us how being gay would affect the sales and not only our careers but the other boys' too, so we agreed.

"Things were fine for a while but we were too affectionate on camera. Fans started guessing we were dating and the rumours started cropping up. We stupidly thought if the fans already knew, we'd get to come out. Instead, management freaked and introduced me to a girl and told me that she would act as my girlfriend to stop the rumours."

"They forced you to have a beard?" Harry asked, frowning. He'd finished his lunch and pushed the bowl aside and he and Louis were just staring at each other from across the table as Louis told his story. _Their_ story.

"Yeah," Louis sighed. "Eleanor was really good about it at first, but after two years of that shit we were starting to get sick of each other. And management really cracked down on us as well. We weren't allowed to sit next to each other, do interviews together. Basically they wanted the fans to think that we were so disgusted over the gay rumours that we weren't friends anymore."

"Suddenly I'm thankful I don't remember any of this," Harry joked, and it earned him a half smile.

"We'd lived together since the X-Factor and they couldn't force you to move out, but they forced you to _act_ like you had. They bought a house that was supposed to be yours but when people found it and realized you weren't living there, you were forced to say you were remodelling the place and were staying at friend's places. Never mine, of course, because we were supposed to hate each other."

"That's such bullshit," Harry frowned. He couldn't believe anyone would go to so much trouble just to cover up that two boys were in love. It was the stupidest thing he'd ever heard.

"They completely fucked you over, as well," Louis said, running a hand through his hair and messing up the quiff he'd put it into. "Made you be seen with a bunch of aspiring models, staying the night at their hotels, the works. Made you seem like a total lothario to the general public. We both hated it."

Harry breathed out slowly. "But we came out eventually?"

Louis nodded and gave him a small smile. "Our contract ended and we talked it over with the boys. We didn't want to stop making music but we didn't want to be so in the closet either. We changed managements, made sure the people there were fine with us. We still couldn't come out but we were allowed to be seen together again. The rumours started flying again but no one seemed to care at that point.

"After a year or two people were finally starting to lose interest in us. Management figured we had maybe another year before we'd have to stop making music, but they told us if we came out people would gain interest again. So we came out and we got another few good years of making music before we finally decided we'd had enough."

"When did we get married?" Harry asked softly.

"We'd always planned on it, even from when we'd just gotten together," Louis said with a small, self conscious laugh. "We were practically already engaged. We only got properly engaged a year before we came out, and we got married a year after we came out."

Harry nodded slowly and Louis stood up, taking Harry's bowl and rinsing it off before putting it in the dishwasher. "Did we lose fans?" Harry asked after a moment.

"Of course we lost fans," Louis answered, turning to give him a smile. A genuine one this time. "But we gained some, too. And there were so many that stayed and supported us. It was so much better than our first management made it out to be."

Harry smiled back at him. Maybe he didn't know this person, maybe he didn't know anyone around him. But he was glad, at least, that things had worked out. Glad that this man who looked at him the way Harry had always wanted to be looked at was for the most part happy.

He hoped he could keep him that way.

_-_-

When Anne finally arrived, Harry had to take a couple steps back in shock. He'd mostly accepted that he was in some kind of future, that it was ten years later and all. But he had not been prepared for seeing his mother look so _old._ He recovered in moments, reaching out to pull her inside out of the cold and give her a big hug, but his mind was still whirling as he buried his face in her hair.

"How are you feeling?" Anne asked when she pulled back, and she started fixing with his hair the same way she always did and it was just a _relief_ because he knew this, he _recognized_ this, he wasn't in the dark about this.

"Alright, I think," Harry said slowly, staying still for her until she finally deemed his hair presentable and stepped back. "Its stopped being scary and just started being weird, really."

"And has Lou been taking care of you?" Anne asked, despite the fact that Louis was standing right next to them and could hear everything they were saying.

"Louis has been really great, Mum," Harry said with a smile, glancing over at Louis who had this weird fond look on his face. Harry still couldn't get over people he didn't know looking at him with expressions that usually only family and close friends held for him.

"Good, good," Anne said, going to Louis and pulling him into a hug. "Its good to see you, dear. How are you holding up?"

"Okay," Louis answered, his voice soft and careful. "He's been easy to take care of. I took him to the doctors and they… Well basically they said Harry won't ever remember anything."

Anne looked like she was going to argue but Louis had this tired, defeated look on his face and she quickly closed her mouth. "Alright, how about you take Harry for a tour of the house while I start on dinner?"

"You don't have to-" Louis started to protest, but Anne waved him off, already making her way to the kitchen.

There was an awkward pause and Harry shoved his hands in his pockets, struggling a little with how tight his jeans were. He'd attempted to change into something looser but he'd only had about five minutes before Louis had told him they needed to leave and he'd only found equally as tight jeans in what he'd assumed was their bedroom.

"Come on, then," Louis sighed, gesturing for Harry to follow him as he started walking. It was a pretty generic tour, there were the rooms Harry had already been in like the kitchen, living room and office. There was also a kind of music room with instruments and a huge stereo system and every single album One Direction had put out, along with two bathrooms. Upstairs were the bedrooms. There was the master bedroom that Harry had woken up in, and the nursery right next to it with Annie's crib. Luke's room was just down the hall and all the other rooms were spares and bathrooms. It was quite spacious and there was enough room for at least four guests at a time.

After Louis had finished showing him around, they ended up in the music room again and Harry started thumbing though their albums, looking at all the different song names and thinking he should devote some time to listening to every single song on every single album. There were posters all over the walls, too, of them as a group. In a cupboard he found stacks of magazines with them on the cover, and it was kind of scary just how popular they had been.

"Hey Lou?" he asked, the nickname rolling off his tongue before he'd even realized he'd said it. He'd heard his mother say it and it kind of fit. "Which song is your favourite? Out of all the ones we've done?"

Louis was sitting in front of the piano, playing random tunes, but he stopped and glanced over at Harry when he'd spoken. "Happily," he said after a moment, tone soft. "You helped write that one. We were still in the closet when it was released."

Harry flipped through their albums again, finding the one that had Happily on it. He stopped at Midnight Memories and put the CD in the stereo system, skipping to track eight and just letting it play. It was an upbeat song with heartfelt lyrics and he already knew by the first chorus that he must have written it about Louis, even if he didn't quite understand everything. He must have been absolutely smitten to write the other man a song.

When it finished he went to take the CD out, but Louis stood up from the piano and stopped him, shaking his head. He pressed the back button and switched to track seven. "I helped write this song," he said quietly. "Well, I helped write the majority of songs on this album, but. This song was for you."

Harry checked the back of the album and saw it was called Strong. The song was still kind of upbeat but the lyrics definitely struck a chord, less about love rather than _giving in_ to love. Harry thought he would have been able to tell Louis was behind the lyrics even if he hadn't been told. It was obvious that Louis had struggled with his sexuality and it showed in the song, but even though the lyrics showed Louis had obviously been scared, it also told how he'd overcome it to love someone deeply.

Harry had a hard time getting his head around that 'someone' being him.

"That was a really good song," he said quietly, pressing the eject button once it had finished and putting the CD back in its case. "I liked it."

Louis smiled at him and Harry knew, without even hearing all of their songs yet, that Strong would be his favourite of all of them.

_-_-

By the time Anne was just finishing her cooking, Harry and Louis were sitting in the living room with the laptop. Harry had tried to help her but she'd shooed him away and told him to get to know his past better, so Louis had brought out the laptop again and they were just going through videos and interviews and music. They were pressed against each other's sides, having started out with a little space between them but sharing a laptop was hard if you weren't right next to each other.

Harry found he really didn't mind.

They were interrupted by the front door banging open and a loud voice shouting before Luke came tearing into the room throwing himself on Louis' lap because Harry's was occupied by the laptop.

"Hey, love," Louis chuckled, wrapping his arms around the boy and hugging him close. "Did you have a good time today?"

"We went to the aquarium and I saw a sting ray this big!" Luke said with a grin, holding his hands out as wide as he could.

Zayn and Perrie came into the room, both with pink cheeks from the cold and smiling widely. Zayn was holding Annie and Harry closed the laptop and set it aside. Luke immediately crawled onto his lap and he hesitated just a second before hugging him the way Louis had. It was a little foreign because Luke was bouncing on his knee and babbling in his excitement but it was kind of easy to just smile and nod and make a vague comment here and there. The little boy didn't look like he suspected anything at all.

"How was she?" Louis asked, standing up and taking Annie from Zayn. The baby smiled widely when she caught sight of Louis and the brunet grinned back at her, planting a kiss on her forehead.  
  
"She was just perfect," Perrie beamed, adjusting the little hat on Annie's head. "We had a really good time."

"Hey, Harry," Zayn said, drifting over to Harry and sitting next to him. "How are you doing?"

"Alright," Harry answered slowly, knowing Zayn was asking about the memory loss but he wasn't supposed to say anything around Luke, who was clinging to Harry's shirt.

"Luke, your grandmother is in the kitchen if you want to say hello," Louis called, looking away from Perrie who was holding Annie again.

Luke shouted and jumped off Harry's lap, tearing off into the kitchen. Louis and Zayn rolled their eyes and Louis sat down on the arm of the couch, looking between Harry and Zayn.

"So, remember anything?" Zayn asked lightly. Perrie glanced up at them from where she was bouncing Annie gently in her arms.

"Nope," Harry replied, shaking his head.

"The specialist said he didn't have any memories of the last ten years to begin with," Louis explained, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder. "If he had amnesia or something the memories would still be there, just locked away or something. But Haz just doesn't have them. They're gone."

"So…" Zayn glanced between them, his brow furrowing. "Does that mean he won't remember anything?"

"Not a thing," Louis replied, letting his hand drop.

Perrie frowned at the three of them before shaking her head. "I'll take Annie to see Anne, you boys can talk," she said softly, slipping from the room.

"That's just…" Zayn said, looking at Harry. "I mean, the last ten years have been the best years of our lives. I can't believe you'll never remember them."

"Its okay, really," Harry said with a tentative smile. "I can't miss what I never had, right? Is that how the saying goes?"

"I don't think so," Louis answered him, but he sounded far off, distracted.

"Well, what'll you do, Harry?" Zayn asked. "Are you going to go live with Anne for a while?"

Louis whipped his head around to glare at Zayn, and Harry just looked at the both of them, confused. "Why would I go live with Mum?" he asked with a frown.

"Well, I just assumed since you don't know Lou or the kids but you do know her…" he said, trailing off because Louis' expression was ice cold.

"I'm not just going to up and leave," Harry said quietly. "I mean, I might have the maturity of a sixteen year old kid but I do have children to think about now."

"Exactly," Louis said, tone just a tad snide. "We're not telling Luke about the memory problems so he can't leave anyway. And there's no way I could handle both Luke and Annie on my own."

"Okay, okay," Zayn said, raising his eyebrows and holding up his hands. "Point taken, sorry I asked."

Louis' expression softened a little and he sighed, rubbing his hands over his thighs before standing. "I'll go check on Anne and the kids."

Harry and Zayn watched him go before they glanced at each other. "I wish he didn't have to deal with this," Harry said after a moment, quiet. He hated seeing how stressed Louis looked, how rare it was to get a genuine smile from him. Harry knew Louis just wanted his husband back and he felt bad because he couldn't give that to him.

"You and me both," Zayn replied.

_-_-

After watching Anne put Annie and Luke to bed, Harry and Louis stood awkwardly in the doorway of the master bedroom as Anne went straight to the bedside table and picked up the baby monitor.  
  
"Mum, what are you doing?" Harry asked with a frown.

"If she wakes during the night, I'll deal with her," Anne replied, turning and moving to give Harry a hug and then Louis.

"Anne, really, you drove all the way up here-" Louis started to protest, but Anne held up a hand to cut him off.

"No arguing," she said sternly. "Louis, you need your sleep because anyone with eyes can see you're stressed to the max. And Harry has never had experience with babies so he won't know what's wrong if she starts crying. Now goodnight, you two."

"Night, Mum," Harry and Louis said quietly at the same time, and Harry glanced over to the brunet with a hesitant smile as Anne slipped into one of the guest rooms and shut the door.  
  
"Okay, well," Louis said softly, returning Harry's smile with a sort of shy one of his own. "Let me just get some clothes and I'll be out of your hair."

Harry blinked and watched him go over to a set of drawers, pulling them open. "Wait, you aren't sleeping in here?" he asked incredulously.

"You have no idea who I was this morning, I'm not going to make you sleep in the same bed as me," Louis answered, pulling out a pair of pyjamas.

"No, I meant- I just thought I'd be in a guest room," Harry said awkwardly. "It makes more sense. You're used to sleeping in here and I'm not, so…"

"I don't want to sleep in here unless you're with me," Louis snapped, slamming the drawers closed. When he saw Harry's alarmed expression, he looked guilty. "Sorry, I just need some sleep. I'm a bit high strung right now."

"It's okay," Harry said softly.

Louis went over to a different set of drawers and pulled open the second drawer. "This is where you keep your pyjamas. You usually don't wear them, but just in case you feel like it," Louis said, turning and giving him a small smile. "Your toothbrush is the orange one in the bathroom, you'll probably be able to find anything else you need. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Lou?" Harry called as the brunet started towards the door.

Louis turned and gave him a curious look. "What?"

"I, uhm," Harry shifted nervously and hung his head a little. "I'm sorry I can't remember you. I know its probably really upsetting and all."

When he looked up Louis was staring at him with a sad smile. "It's not your fault, Haz," he said quietly. "Sleep well."

Harry didn't sleep well at all.

_-_-

Liam turned out to be one of those people that worried about every little thing. Almost as soon as he was through the door he gave Harry a hug and asked him a million questions about how he was feeling and if he remembered anything, even just a little inkling or a feeling of Déjà vu. He tried to baby Louis, make sure he was okay with his husband not remembering anything at all, but Louis got fed up with it after ten minutes and told Liam to make himself useful and take Luke out for ice cream.

Anne was still with them and she'd given Harry a rundown of how her life had been in the last ten years, and Harry was a little surprised to find out he had a stepfather. Louis had told him that he got along well Robin, so he guessed it wasn't a bad thing.

Harry and Louis were sitting in the nursery with Annie, Louis rocking her in the old looking chair in the corner and looking frustrated because the baby was just screaming her head off instead of going to sleep like she was supposed to.

"Maybe we should just let her stay up," Harry said helplessly, watching Louis try to shove the pacifier in Annie's mouth for the fifth time only to have her spit it out within seconds.

"We gotta have a routine and stick to it," Louis said, shaking his head and sighing. "If we let her get away with it she'll do the exact same thing tomorrow. She needs her sleep."

"She'll tire herself out with all that crying, right?" Harry asked, watching as Annie's face turned red.

"Probably," Louis sighed, standing from the chair and going over to Harry, who was seated on a plush yellow couch beside the window. "Here, take her. See if you can't get her to sleep."

Harry was a little hesitant but he really loved babies and even if she was crying, he'd been wanting to hold Annie for the past hour now. Louis gently placed her in his arms, showing him how to hold her properly, and then took a step back.

Annie startled a little at the change and she looked at Harry's face, taking one deep breath as if she were going to scream again, but Harry just smiled at her and whispered "hello," softly, and she shut her mouth.

"You've got to be kidding me," Louis hissed, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "Why does she scream when I hold her? She hates me, I swear."

"She doesn't hate you," Harry replied automatically, stroking his finger down the baby's face. She was so tiny compared to him he had to make sure to be extra gentle because he didn't even know his own strength in this new body and he didn't want to accidentally hurt her.

"She still likes you more than me," Louis muttered, but he looked more relieved that she'd stopped crying than annoyed.

After a few minutes of gently holding Annie and whispering to her, she finally dropped off and Louis smiled softly at him. "Should I put her in her crib?" Harry asked quietly, staring at the sleeping baby in his arms.

"Yeah," Louis whispered, nodding his head and helping Harry stand while holding the baby at the same time. Harry laid her down gently in her crib and her little face screwed up but she didn't wake and eventually her features smoothed out. Louis tucked her in tightly and leaned down to kiss her forehead before grabbing Harry's arm and pulling him out of the room. "She'll probably sleep for an hour or so, if we're lucky."

Harry smiled at him and Louis grinned, looking relieved and happy. He reached up to brush a couple of curls out of Harry's eyes but he froze halfway, smile vanishing. "Uhm," he said awkwardly, arm dropping and the happy look in his eyes disappearing. "Let's go check on your mother then, shall we?"

"She told us to stay out of the kitchen," Harry objected, following Louis who'd turned and started for the stairs and trying to ignore the disappointed feeling in his gut that the brunet hadn't touched him.

"Its our house, honestly," Louis replied, rolling his eyes. The moment of awkwardness passed and things started feeling normal again, especially when Louis shot him a small smile.

"Yeah, alright," Harry said after a moment, almost tripping over himself because he hadn’t been paying attention. "We'll go check on her then."

"That's the spirit," Louis said brightly, clapping him on the back and heading down the stairs.

_-_-

Louis told him that Harry had confessed previously that he'd started crushing on Louis about a week after they met. It took Harry about four days.

It wasn't like he could really help it. Louis was sweet to him, with a good sense of humour and an amazing body. He knew he shouldn't be feeling like this because he isn't the Harry that Louis wanted, he's some kind of intruder and it isn't fair on the older boy. He can't stop himself when he feels the crush start to creep up on him, though.

He knows he's hopeless at hiding it, can tell by the small smiles Louis gave him whenever Harry tripped over himself to go do something for him or whenever he blushed at the slightest compliment. Louis probably knew full well that Harry was into him and it was embarrassing, but there was nothing he could do about it.

It had taken a while for Harry to get used to his role in the house. As tempting as it was to just follow Louis around all day, eventually the older boy had to go do his own things and Harry would be left on his own. It was strange to be in the huge house with only Luke for company (as Anne had left two days ago and Louis had taken Annie with him) but eventually he got used to it and took out the laptop Louis had told him was his own.

He hesitated for a moment once he got to google, unsure if he really wanted to look up his story from an outsiders point of view. Louis had explained things to him but Louis was his husband and had probably left things out. Eventually Harry sighed and typed 'Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson' into the search bar.

He gulped at the multitudes of results that popped up and he clicked on the first one, the one that proclaimed 'ONE DIRECTION BOYBANDERS GET MARRIED IN PRIVATE CEREMONY'. The article most talked about how Louis and Harry had gotten married privately and included a few grainy shots someone had taken of Louis dressed in a suit hurrying from a car into a hotel. There were also pictures of the days afterwards of both boys' rings and the sentimentality of the 'OOPS' and 'HI' engraved into the metal.

Harry clicked out of the article and glanced over the other search results. There was a link to an interview that was called 'HARRY TOMLINSON TALKS MARRIAGE, TAKING HIS PARTNER'S NAME AND CHILDREN' so he went into that and patiently waited for the video to load.

He looked happy in the video, he could admit that. Relaxed and cheerful, he told the interviewer all about how happy he was to finally marry Louis and how they'd always just figured Harry would take the name Tomlinson instead of the other way around or even hyphenating their names. He talked about how they were discussing either getting a surrogate or just adopting, because both of them definitely wanted children. At least three, he had said. Harry couldn't help but feel sad at that, because Louis only had two children and unless Harry miraculously remembered his past, he probably wouldn't get any more.

Harry eventually switched to google images and just scrolled through all of the pictures. In nearly every single one, he and Louis looked happy together and very much in love. There were a few shots of them kissing and it made Harry shift uncomfortably because of the weird feeling in his gut. He had to admit that he'd thought about what it was like to kiss Louis, especially after the time Harry had wandered down on the fifth morning since losing his memory and Louis had turned to him with an upraised face as if he was expecting a kiss. He'd realized after a few seconds that this Harry wasn't _his_ Harry and he'd quickly apologized ("Old habits die hard, sorry Haz.") and continued with breakfast, but Harry hadn't been able to forget it since.

Harry went back to google and changed his search to 'Harry and Louis Tomlinson'. The first article that popped up was from a couple of days ago and the title caught his eye. 'TOMLINSONS SPOTTED AT PRIVATE DOCTOR, POSSIBLE ILLNESS?'

The article included photos from their trip to see the head specialist, and while Louis looked half pissed off half determined in each picture, Harry himself looked stunned and out of it, clinging to Louis' hand as they made their way from the car to the building. The article talked about how Louis had been grumpy for a few days and had refused to comment on what they were doing at the specialist's place. It also said how Harry hadn't been seen for a while, and how it was probably him that had some kind of mysterious illness. The article waxed on about how Louis would possibly survive if something happened to his husband and Harry snorted, clicking out of the page with an eye roll.

Another page caught his eye and Harry clicked on it hesitantly. 'LARRY STYLINSON IS REAL: LOUIS AND HARRY COME OUT OF THE CLOSET'. This article was years old and talked about how they'd come out in an interview that ended up being one of the most viewed interviews out of all of their band's ones.

_"So what about all these girls you've dated, Harry?" we ask._

_"I was never really dating them. Most of them were to gain promotion for albums, but some of them were to cover up Louis and I," Harry answers, looking a little sad at the thought._

_"And Eleanor?" we ask hesitantly. Its well known Eleanor isn't a subject Harry likes._

_"She was purely to cover up Louis' sexuality. He had more speculation about him being gay than I did, so it made more sense for him to have the long term beard," Harry tells us._

"What're you looking at, Daddy?"

Harry jumped and slammed the laptop closed, staring wide eyed at Luke standing in the doorway of the living room. "Nothing," he replied quickly, sliding the laptop into it's case and setting it aside. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Luke said, looking curiously at the laptop before shrugging and hopping up onto the couch next to him. "I was wondering if we could please watch a movie together?"

Harry blinked at him, and he'd never really met a kid so polite before. Louis had said that Luke tended to take after Harry and imitate him ("Thank God, if he imitated me we'd be getting so many complaints from school."), and he was a little flattered but mostly surprised. "Uh, yeah, sure," he said with a smile. "You go pick one and put it on and we can watch it."

Luke grinned and ran to one of the cupboards by the television and opened it. There were so many DVDs lined up that Harry didn't know how he'd possibly choose, but eventually the boy put in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair and then settled back beside Harry on the couch.

The movie was actually pretty interesting considering Harry had never seen it, or didn't remember seeing it, so he barely noticed when Luke fell asleep on him. He just put an arm around the boy and kept watching, only being jolted from the screen when he realized Louis was standing in the doorway watching him.

"He asleep?" Louis asked softly, nodding towards Luke. He had Annie in his arms but she was docile and quiet, sucking on a pacifier and resting her head on Louis' shoulder.

"Yeah, I think he was tired from this morning," Harry replied with a smile, glancing down at the little boy curled up into his side. They'd gone out, all four of them, to make snow men from the newly fallen snow and it had been the first time Harry had felt like part of the family ever since he'd woken up here. "Should I put him in bed?"

Louis looked at Luke thoughtfully before smiling and shrugging. "Might as well," he said with a chuckle. "I was thinking about baking some Christmas cookies anyway, and it'll be easier if he's not in here trying to eat all the dough."

" _You_ were thinking of baking?" Harry teased with a grin, gently scooping Luke up into his arms so he could carry him to bed. He'd learnt earlier on that Louis could barely cook, only knowing very simple meals and it was usually Harry that made lunch and dinner.

"Okay, maybe I was thinking of holding Annie and watching while _you_ baked," Louis said with a smirk, and Harry laughed softly at him before moving past to go upstairs.

Luke stirred a little when Harry set him down on his bed, but all he did was reach up and tug at a handful of Harry's curls, mumbling, "I love you, Daddy," before he rolled over and went to sleep again.

Harry bit his lip as he pulled the covers over Luke. He'd always wanted to be married with kids and he'd almost literally been thrown into that situation but he still felt guilty. He wasn't this child's father, despite what Luke thought. And Harry could continue to play the part but the fact of the matter was he was just a scared sixteen year old boy pretending to be the husband of a famous singer and a father to two children.

When he went back downstairs he was a lot quieter than he had been before and Louis picked up on it straight away from where he was pulling off Annie's coat and then setting her on his hip. "What's wrong?" he asked, giving Harry a concerned look.

Harry shrugged, opening the fridge and reaching into it for the ingredients he'd need for the cookies and trying not to notice the way Annie was squirming in Louis' arms and reaching out for Harry.

"Seriously, what's wrong?" Louis pressed.

"I just-" Harry shut the fridge door and sighed, pressing his forehead against the shiny silver metal. "I feel bad, okay? Because I can't be who you want me to be and you're kind of stuck with me, and I keep thinking maybe I should have gone back with my mother because this is just making things stressful for you-"

Louis slammed a hand down on the counter to shut Harry up and Annie let out a startled wail. "Oh, fuck," the brunet muttered, handing her over to Harry to take and she quietened once she was in his arms. "Sorry,  but Harry seriously, I don't want you to leave okay? You might not remember us but you're still _Harry_ , just… the sixteen year old version of him rather than the twenty six year old version. And I love both versions the same alright?"

Harry bit his lip, grip on Annie tightening a little and he bounced her gently in his arms. "You're still… You still love me?" he asked softly.

"I'd be a piss poor husband if I didn't," Louis replied offhandedly, but his expression was serious and kind of intense.

"Oh," Harry whispered, swallowing and glancing down at Annie. He didn't know what to do with himself now, wasn't sure how to act.

"On second thought, I'll take Miss Annie here out for a walk, she'll be getting restless," Louis said quietly, taking the baby back from Harry and giving him a small smile. "You can… have some time to yourself."

Louis took Annie and left and Harry leaned against the counter and tried not to think about the way Louis' fingers had felt brushing up against his arms as he'd taken the baby from him.

_-_-

Zayn and Perrie came round on the weekend to take the kids again and Harry leaned close to Louis as he was bundling Annie up in her tiny little coat. "Why are they always asking to take them?" he asked softly, brushing Annie's straight black hair from her eyes.

"Pezza can't get pregnant," Louis said with a little sigh, doing up the last button before patting Annie's belly and picking her up again.

"Oh, really?" Harry said quietly. He thought about how affectionate Perrie was with the children and how she almost melted every time Annie so much as smiled at her. It seemed a cruel trick to leave a woman who clearly loved children unable to have them. "That's awful. Have they thought about adoption?"

"Zayn's family is a little weird about it," Louis answered, handing Annie over to Harry who took her automatically. After over a week with Louis and the kids, he was starting to get used to playing the role of husband and father. "I think they're taking these two so much so they can see if they really _definitely_ want kids before they outright defy Zee's grandparents."

"Sounds complicated," Harry murmured, kissing Annie on the forehead and smiling when she gurgled.

"Tell me about it," Louis said with an eye roll. "You figured the least we could do was offer up our own children."

"I did?" Harry asked, blinking at him.

Louis smiled a little, getting that sad, far away look in his eyes he did whenever the reality of the situation became to obvious to ignore. "Yeah. Before you, ah, forgot everything."

"Oh," Harry nodded, dropping his gaze to Annie. He didn't miss the frustrated look on Louis' face.

_-_-

"Here, let me-" Louis was letting out giggles as he tugged the laptop from Harry and quickly typed 'The Adventurous Adventures of One Direction' in the youtube search bar. Harry was kind of high off Louis' laughs and the way he curled his body close to his, so he was laughing softly as well, even though he didn't know why.

They'd had a little wine with dinner because Harry had admitted to never trying it before (that he could remember, anyway) and because the kids were staying at Zayn and Perrie's so it was just them for the night. Louis had drunk a lot more than Harry but he only seemed tipsy, cheeks flushed as he started to play the video and laugh into the back of his hand.

The cartoon versions of themselves were hilarious, Harry had to admit. And even in a bloody cartoon that had come out before he and Louis had, it was still obvious their characters had more chemistry than the three other boys. There were three more videos in the 'AAoOD' series, and the last one had been made after they had come out so it included their relationship. It was kind of sweet to see Cartoon Harry and Cartoon Louis have a spat and then make up and kiss at the end.

"Did we ever fight?" Harry asked a while later when the laptop was on the coffee table and playing music at a low volume. Louis was still curled into his side and Harry had wrapped a hesitant arm around him and it was a little awkward but mostly warm and _right_.

"Hmm?" Louis glanced up from where he'd been staring into his wine glass, only a few mouthfuls left.

"You and I," Harry said, and immediately broke off into giggles because Louis had snorted. Right, that was one of their songs on the third album. "I mean, fuck. Did we ever fight? Like married couples fight, right?"

Louis let out a loud laugh and had to hide his face in Harry's shoulder for a few moments. Louis was a lot more handsy when he'd been drinking and Harry got the feeling it was because the older man missed the physical intimacy they must have had. He'd seen from videos that he and Louis were a very hands on couple, and to have that suddenly stop must have been hard for Louis.

"Haz, you didn't talk to me for almost a week when I refused to let you change Annie's name to Darcy," Louis eventually said, pulling away from Harry's shoulder. His cheeks were bright pink and his eyes were scrunched up from laughing and Harry had never wanted to kiss him more.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, the room's atmosphere going serious as Harry's breath hitched and his eyes flickered down to Louis' lips. The brunet licked them, probably subconsciously, and shifted a little in his seat.

"Always wanted to name my first daughter Darcy," he said absently, not looking away from Louis' lips.

"She already had a name and we had our hearts set on her," Louis replied softly, sounding just as distracted as Harry felt.

"Did we… did we kiss a lot then?" Harry asked, a little hesitantly, not sure if he was crossing a line.

Louis startled a little at that and his eyes flew up to meet Harry's, blue widening somewhat. "You know, I keep going over and over again in my mind that you're just sixteen," he whispered. "Mentally, you're sixteen. That's so young, Haz. You're so innocent."

"No sixteen year old boy is innocent," Harry said, trying not to smile.

"You were," Louis murmured, and Harry suddenly realized the fingers of the brunet's free hand were idly tracing patterns along the back of his arm. "But… fuck, even then you were so mature. You just _knew_ what was happening between us and you didn't push it while I tried to figure things out with Hannah and I just…"

"Yeah?" Harry whispered.

Louis' eyes flicked from Harry's down to his lips and then back again. "I, uhm, I should-" his cellphone ringing cut him off and he almost looked relieved as he scrambled to get it out of the pocket of his tight jeans. "I really should get this. Hello?"

Harry was close enough that he could make out Zayn's voice on the other line perfectly. "Louis, oh my god I'm so sorry," he was babbling loudly, and Harry could distantly hear Luke crying in the background. "I'm so sorry, you didn't tell us, we didn’t know!"

"What?" Louis sat up straight, free hand gripping onto Harry's arm tightly as his brow furrowed. "Zayn, calm down. You didn't know what? What happened?"

"We crushed up some pineapple to give to Annie as a treat and she just swelled up!" Zayn was almost shouting and another voice in the background hushed him. "She stopped breathing and we didn't know what to do-"

"Oh my god, is she-" Louis started, voice panicky.

"She's alive, we took her to the hospital, they said she had an allergic reaction," Zayn assured him, and both Louis and Harry sagged with relief. "They're saying she's gonna be fine but they need you down here because you're the legal guardians. They want to keep her overnight as well."

"Yeah, yeah, alright," Louis said, running a hand through his hair and looking more stressed and tired than Harry had ever seen him. Once he'd gotten the details about which ward Annie was in, he hung up and turned to Harry. "You don't have to come, it sounds like they just need one of us and that really should be me."

Harry shook his head, pulling Louis in for a tight hug and the brunet melted into him instantly. "I'm not letting you go without me," he said into the older boy's hair, and Louis let out a soft sound of relief. It had been obvious just from his expression that he hadn't wanted to go alone. Harry couldn't just wait around at the house anyway, Annie had completely charmed him in the time he'd spent with her and he needed to check she was okay. "What's happening with Luke?"

"Zayn and Perrie are going to bring him here and stay with him until we get back," Louis answered, face pressed into Harry's neck. He was clinging like he'd never get another chance to hug Harry if he let go, and maybe he really thought that. This was the first time they'd actually hugged after all, since Harry had woken up that first day, disorientated and confused.

"Are you alright to drive?" Harry asked softly. He knew Louis had been a little tipsy and while Harry was mostly sober, he'd never learned to drive so he couldn't take them.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Louis said, finally letting go and rubbing a tired hand over his face. "Being told your daughter is in the hospital tends to sober you up a little."

"You stay here, I'll pack us some things before we go," Harry said gently, patting Louis' shoulder and standing up.

"Harry, we should go now, we don't have time-"

"Louis, she'll still be there even if we're ten minutes late," Harry shook his head. "We need things if we're staying overnight. And I think she'd be more comfortable if we brought her favourite blanket for her anyway."

Louis stared at him for a long moment and for a second Harry thought he was going to start crying, but the boy made a choked off noise before tugging at his hair and nodding. "Okay, fuck, okay," he stuttered out. "Yeah, she'd like that. Thanks, Haz."

Harry started to walk out of the room to go upstairs but he glanced over his shoulder just before he left. Louis was still sitting on the couch but now he was staring down at his forearm and tracing over the compass tattoo with his fingertips.

Harry pressed his palm against the ship on his bicep almost instinctively as he left the room.

_-_-

Even though Harry had the maturity of a sixteen year old, it was him who ended up being the sensible one that night. Louis seemed determined to never leave Annie's bedside and get no sleep, and Harry had to coax him into having a coffee and sitting in a more comfortable chair. Once the swelling around Annie's mouth and throat went down, she tried to scream the building down and Louis was almost in hysterics because the nurses wouldn't let him hold her.

"She'll calm down if I can hold her!" he shouted, pushing against Harry's restraining arms and trying to get to Annie. "Look at her! She's confused! She just wants her fathers!"

"I'm sorry, Mr Tomlinson, but for her own safety we have to leave her in her bed for now-" the nurse tried.

"Don't give me that bullshit! She's perfectly fine!" Louis yelled at her and the woman looked a little alarmed.

"Lou," Harry murmured. He had an arm around the smaller man's waist to keep him from jumping to Annie's side and picking her up, and Louis' back was pressed up against his chest. "Lou, we don't want to accidentally hurt her worse. I know you want to hold her but its what's best for her right now."

"The yelling is probably scaring her," the nurse added, and Louis sent her an icy glare.

"Fine, I won't pick her up," he spat. "Can you leave so I can have time with my daughter please?"

The nurse hesitated, looking doubtful that Louis wouldn't actually pick her up, and Harry gave her a tired smile. "I've got it," he said quietly. "I'll make sure he doesn't do anything."

The woman nodded and left, glancing towards Annie once as she went out the door. Louis sagged against Harry's chest before pushing him away and going over to Annie, catching her tiny hand and holding it in his.

"Way to be on my side, Harry," Louis snapped at him, struggling to be heard over Annie's crying. "I know you don't remember me but its not like she's not your daughter too or anything."

"Louis, I'm on _Annie's_ side," Harry sighed, moving closer and brushing the hair from the girl's forehead. "If they think it might hurt her to pick her up, we have to refrain ourselves."

"She's in pain and she's scared and she just wants a cuddle," Louis said tiredly, looking close to tears himself. "Fuck, why can't I just comfort my own goddamn daughter?"

Harry sighed again, wrapping his arms around Louis and pulling the man into his chest. It felt like the right thing to do, seeing as the brunet looked on the verge of a breakdown and Harry was mostly okay, if a little tired and worried. "She'll be fine, Lou," he said into Louis' hair. "She's probably not even scared, just pissed off that she's not in her crib."

Louis made a muffled half laughing half sobbing sound into Harry's chest and clung to him tightly, quiet for several long minute before he finally spoke up again. "I just want everything back the way it was," he said, voice catching and breaking on tears.

"I know," Harry murmured, squeezing his eyes shut and keeping Louis' body tightly to him. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

The only answer he got was the way Louis' shoulders started shaking.

_-_-

They took Annie home the next day and Louis had refused to put her down since the nurses had said he could hold her again except for the drive home. He cradled her to his chest almost as soon as he'd gotten out of the car and left Harry to lock the doors.

Luke ran into Harry's legs as soon as he got inside, eyes wide and scared, and Harry picked him up and set him on his hip, rubbing his back to soothe him. "Your sisters fine, she's all better now," he reassured him, and Luke looked relieved.

Zayn and Perrie came out from the living room and Perrie's eyes got wet when she saw Annie sleeping peacefully in Louis' arms. "Harry, Lou, I'm so sorry, I didn't know."

"Pez, its okay," Louis said tiredly. He had dark circles under his eyes because he hadn't been able to get to sleep and Harry was planning on forcing him to go to bed very soon. He'd probably have to move Annie's crib into the room Louis was using so he could be close to her. "We didn't know either. It's not your fault."

Zayn wrapped an arm around Perrie's waist and her eyes were rimmed red as if she'd been crying all night. Harry didn't know her, but he got the feeling she had been.

"Thanks for looking after Luke," Harry said with a smile, putting a hand on Louis' back. "You're welcome to keep hanging out but Lou needs sleep."

Louis looked like he was going to argue but when he opened his mouth all that came out was a yawn. He sagged against Harry's touch and just nodded, pressing his cheek to Annie's hair.

"Nah, we should get going," Zayn said quietly, thumb rubbing circles on Perrie's hip. "Pez and I didn't get much sleep and we're supposed to be meeting with Jesy for lunch tomorrow so we need to rest as well."

Harry had no idea who Jesy was, even though he got the feeling he should. He just smiled and nodded, stepping aside for Zayn and Perrie to pass him and go out the door. "We'll see you later," Zayn called, and Perrie added, "I'm so sorry again!"

"It's seriously not your fault," Harry called out to them and they waved before getting in their car and reversing out the driveway.

Harry sighed and closed the door, locking it for good measure because he wasn't sure how long he could stay up with Luke before he ended up falling asleep as well. He might have gotten a few hours in the uncomfortable hospital chair but he still felt like he hadn't slept at all.

"Come on, bed time," he said quietly.

"Can you bring Annie's crib into the spare room?" Louis asked in a hoarse whisper. "Don't want to sleep without her."

"Yeah, I was planning on doing that anyway," Harry said softly. He got a weird little feeling in his stomach, the same kind he'd gotten when Liam had referred to him and Louis as soul mates. Saying they had a connection and all that. It was times like these that made him believe it.

Louis gave him a grateful smile before climbing the stairs slowly with Annie in his arms. Harry glanced down at Luke who was rubbing his eyes and he was relieved to see the little boy looked tired. If Luke was sleeping Harry could nab a couple of hours of sleep as well.

"How about you go pick out a movie and when I come back down, we'll watch it together?" Harry asked, because watching a movie was a better way to get Luke to sleep rather than just sending him to bed.

"Okay, Daddy," Luke said quietly, allowing himself to be put on the ground before trudging to the living room. Harry smiled softly and shook his head, turning to follow Louis and Annie up the stairs.

He was actually starting to feel older than his sixteen years.

_-_-

A month later and it was December and Louis was even more stressed trying to sort things out for Christmas. Both Anne and Jay (Louis' mother, Harry had learned) wanted them for Christmas, but Jay now lived so far away from Holmes Chapel that they weren't able to have a joint family Christmas like they had done years before.

Eventually they settled on spending Louis' birthday and Christmas with Jay and then spending a full week with Anne to make up for not being able to spend the actual holiday with her. Luke was excited to see both his grandmothers again and Annie was still too young to understand anything, all she knew was her Papa was busy a lot.

Harry had met Jay once and she seemed nice enough. Apparently she and Anne were close friends and had been ever since Harry and Louis met, and he was glad at least that his mother had a good friend. The drive to Jay's place, though, the day before Louis' birthday, was almost six hours and Louis had to do it all himself because Harry couldn't drive.

Annie got fussy in her bumper seat two hours in and Luke could barely sit still. He had a little game device that Harry didn't recognise to keep him occupied but he lost interest in it pretty quickly. Harry ended up moving to sit in the back with them so he could try to keep Annie quiet and amuse Luke at the same time to give Louis some peace.

It was still weird being with them but he'd mostly gotten used to it. He'd started automatically referring to the kids as his own children and while he still hadn't gotten the hang of calling Louis his husband (he blushed and stuttered a little every damn time) but things with him had started feeling more natural. Harry still wanted to kiss him all the time but Louis was always stressed and busy, and seemed a bit wary about it anyway. Harry didn't blame him- he was just a sixteen year old kid wearing his husband's skin after all.

When they finally got to Jay's, all of Louis' siblings were already there. Harry had been told there were six of them (not including his half sister Georgia) and five of them were girls, and one lone brother. Two sets of twins seemed a little excessive, but Jay had handled them well. The older girls (Charlotte, Felicite, Daisy and Phoebe) had all been told about the state of Harry's memories. The youngest set of twins (Edward and Lily) weren't old enough to know yet, though, and Edward would probably have Luke following him around everywhere so it was just better if they didn't know. Harry didn't like pretending but he'd gotten enough practise that it came easily now.

Luke ran into the house almost as soon as Harry freed him from his seatbelt and he chuckled as he undid Annie's booster seat and lifted her out of it. Louis looked tired and drawn as he got out of the drivers seat and Harry pressed a hand to his back. Little touches like those had become a thing for them now, because Harry knew Louis needed it and he himself kind of craved it because of his childish crush. "Your family and I will look after the kids if you need to rest," he said softly as Annie reached out and tugged at his hair.

"I think I'm okay," Louis said, shaking his head and smiling. "It'd be nice to relax on the couch with the girls, though, if you can keep an eye on Annie so I don't have to worry about her."

"Yeah, of course," Harry smiled back at him and there was a short moment before Louis turned away and locked the car before they went inside. Harry was used to having a small family, just his mother and sister, so it was a bit weird to have so many people in the house. Luke was already in the living room playing with toy monster trucks with Edward, who was proudly showing him how to do it 'properly'.

Jay came out from a different room and gave Louis a hug before directing him to the couch to sit down and rest. She hugged Harry too and promptly took Annie off him, and Louis' sisters dragged him outside to talk.

"So you don't remember anything?" Daisy asked, leaning forward with wide eyes. She had thick eyeliner on and reddish brown streaks through her hair. Phoebe, in comparison, barely had any make up and just had her natural brown hair. Harry thought they might have done it on purpose so it was easier to differentiate between them.

"Not a thing," Harry confirmed, glancing back through the open sliding door to check on Annie. Jay had her on her lap as she talked to Louis on the couch and Lily was snuggled into Louis' side. The sight made Harry smile before he turned back to the other girls.

"Seems like you've still got the hots for him even though you don't remember him," Lottie said slyly, her lips curved into a grin.  

Harry's cheeks flamed and the girls all started laughing at him. Felicite slapped her sister's arm and rolled her eyes, making an attempt to defend Harry. "Oh, leave him, of course he still likes Louis. Its not the memories that make them attractive to each other."

"He's been good to me," Harry said quietly. Louis had done his best to make Harry feel at home even with what had started out as three complete strangers. It had worked, too, because he loved the kids to death and he really liked Louis. More than he probably should.

"Are you two going to get together?" Phoebe asked. "Well, I mean you two are married and all but I assume you're taking a break because of the whole memory thing. But, like, are you going to stop that? Its obvious you two still love each other and you've only bloody been here twenty minutes."

"I don't think-" Harry paused and shook his head, trying to gather his thoughts into a coherent sentence. "I'm just some sixteen year old kid. I look older but I'm not. Louis has said it to me several times that I'm just a kid, he probably doesn't want to get involved with that."

"He got involved with sixteen year old you ten years ago," Daisy said with a shrug. "You're married with kids, I'm pretty sure the fact you're mentally younger than him by like twelve years isn't going to mean much."

"Oh, he's getting uncomfortable," Lottie said, rolling her eyes at her sisters. "Stop interrogating him for a bit. I'm going to go check on dinner."

Fizzy and the twins shrugged and leaned back, easily falling into a different topic of conversation and Harry allowed himself to relax a little. He was right about his crush being blindingly obvious, but he hadn't expected Louis' sisters to be able to tell almost straight away after meeting them. Still, they seemed supportive so he guessed it was okay.

Dinner was loud, with three young children and a toddler, not to mention Daisy and Phoebe were teenagers and prone to mood swings. Louis allowed Jay to spend more time with Annie so Jay was holding the baby on her lap as she ate, sometimes giving her a little bit of mashed potatoes that ended up getting on her shirt more than in her mouth.

Still, Harry had fun. The girls accepted him easily and brought him into their conversations, and after a few bumpy starts they managed to avoid topics about the past that Harry wouldn't know anything about. He was sitting next to Louis at the table and every now and again they'd catch each other's eyes and smile at each other and it was just nice. Harry felt like if he could just lean forward and kiss Louis whenever he wanted, he'd really feel like part of the family.

After dinner Harry went outside to watch Edward, Lily and Luke build snow men while Louis caught up with his sisters. When it started getting too cold, Harry brought the kids inside and then helped Louis put Annie to bed in an old crib Jay had kept from when Edward and Lily were babies. The sleeping arrangements were awkward, to say the least. Lottie and Fizzy weren't staying and instead coming back in the morning, where the older set of twins were going to share their old bedroom. Luke was sharing with Edward and Lily and there was only one spare room left for Harry, Louis and Annie.

That hadn't been a problem before, considering Harry and Louis were married, but now that Harry had lost his memory, their interactions were tense and charged as Harry tucked Annie in and Louis leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"Right," Louis said, straightening and glancing over at the queen bed in the middle of the room that they were supposed to share.

"Its okay, Lou," Harry said softly. "I can sleep on the couch. I don't want to make things awkward."

"It wont be awkward," Louis said, voice almost a whisper. "I mean, its just sleeping right? Its fine. Besides, Luke and the younger twins will wonder why you're on the couch and not with me."

Harry ran a hand through his curls, knowing he was right. He just really hoped that his body wouldn't betray him by getting a boner or something equally embarrassing while they were lying next to each other. "Alright," he said softly. "Okay, yeah."

They took turns in the bathroom getting changed into pyjamas and brushing their teeth. By the time Harry came out in a pair of sweats with his mouth tasting like peppermint, Louis was already sitting in bed and scrolling through his phone. Harry switched off the light and slid into the bed next to him, being careful not to lie too close.

"What're you doing?" he asked quietly, the light of Louis' phone illuminating his face.

"Looking at Twitter," Louis replied, sparing him a glance and smiling a little. He was wearing his glasses and Harry could see a strong resemblance to the younger Louis in the videos he'd seen when the brunet was like this.

"Oh," Harry said softly. "I haven't been on Twitter since I woke up with you. Are people wondering why I'm not tweeting?"

Louis shook his head, tapping out something on his phone. "I know your password, I've been logging into your account and tweeting things every now and again, just to stop people from getting worried."

"Ah," Harry murmured. Louis spent another few moments on his phone before switching it off and setting it on the bedside table. Harry could hear him moving about and taking off his glasses as well, and then he felt the smaller man lying down and pulling the covers over him.

"Goodnight, Harry," Louis whispered into the dark, closer than he had expected.

"Night, Lou," Harry replied softly, wishing he could breach the tiny divide between them and wrap his arms around Louis. He kept to his own side of the bed.

_-_-

He wasn't on his own side of the bed when he woke up. He was jolted from his sleep by an embarrassed voice murmuring his name insistently and when Harry opened his eyes, he realized he was lying almost completely on top of Louis, who was staring up at him with red cheeks and an awkward smile.

"Glad to see you're awake," Louis said quietly.

"Shit," Harry said in response, pulling away before he could really savour the feeling of Louis' body against his own and sitting up in bed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that."

"It's fine, Haz," Louis said, sitting up as well and rubbing his eyes, reaching for his glasses. "You do it all the time. Did. Whatever. You always end up on top of me when we sleep together, I should have expected it."

A moment later Annie started wailing and Louis got up to grab her and take her into the kitchen for breakfast. Harry collapsed back against the bed and stared up at the white ceiling, willing his morning wood to go down. When it wouldn't, he shuffled into the bathroom and took a quick shower, wrapping a hand around himself and trying his best not to think about Louis as he pulled himself in long, smooth strokes. He didn't do very well.

When he reappeared in the kitchen with damp hair and an easier smile, more relaxed now that he'd gotten off, Louis greeted him with a side hug that was mostly for Luke's benefit as the boy was sitting at the table staring at them. Harry leaned down to kiss Luke's forehead as he went by and it hit him how amazing this life was. If he had to be thrown into a future unexpectedly, he was glad it was this one.

"Hey," Harry said, tugging on Louis' arm to get him to stop where he'd been rushing to get Annie's bottle. "Happy birthday."

Louis paused and gave him a smile. His hair was a mess and he was still in sweats and a rumpled t-shirt and he was wearing his glasses, but he was still absolutely stunning. Harry was amazed at his past self's ability to land someone so attractive.

"Thanks, Haz," he said softly, leaning up to press a short kiss to Harry's cheek before moving to grab Annie's bottle.

Harry flushed at the contact and couldn't stop smiling, even when he went to go wake Lily and Edward up.

_-_-

They had wine with their dinner that night and Harry and Louis were curled up on one of the couches talking in low voices, still holding their glasses. The older girls had let them be and the little ones were in bed, so they were pretty much on their own. Harry was feeling a little more drunk than he had last time but Louis still looked the same amount of tipsy- giggly and red cheeked.

"When did we have our first kiss?" Harry asked, reaching out absentmindedly to toy with a lock of Louis' hair. He felt a lot more free to touch once he'd gotten alcohol into him, and Louis was a lot more receptive when he'd been drinking.

"It was around Christmas time, actually," Louis told him with a smile, fingertips rubbing along the stem of his wine glass. "Niall managed to get a hold of some mistletoe and the lot of them were sick of us dancing around each other so they set it up and tricked us into standing under it together."

Harry chuckled at that, moving to rub the back of Louis' neck and the brunet let out a sigh, leaning into the touch and relaxing. "So did we kiss straight away?"

"No," Louis said, his lips twitching into a grin. "I was still with Hannah, back then. And I tried to reason my way out of it but you just pushed me against the doorframe and kissed me. Romantic one, you are."

Harry laughed at that, finishing off the wine in his glass and setting it down on the little table beside the couch. "I suppose your reasons just weren't good enough."

Louis giggled and rubbed a hand over his cheek. "Apparently. It gave me the incentive to break it off with Hannah, though," he said with a shrug. "So I guess it was a good thing."

"I bet the other boys were pleased," Harry smiled.

"You would win that bet," Louis replied, although his grin faded. "It gave Liam a bit of false hope, though, which put a damper on things."

"False hope?" Harry asked softly.

"Liam and Zayn always had this kind of," Louis waved his free hand aimlessly, "connection, or whatever. Amazing chemistry. I guess we all thought they were going to get together too, even Liam thought that. But then Zayn went and married Perrie, and it never happened."

"Oh," Harry said, frowning a little. He supposed he'd seen a great friendship between Liam and Zayn from the videos he'd watched, but he'd never thought Liam had feelings for Zayn. "That's a shame, I guess."

Louis snorted. "Almost broke the bloody band apart when Zayn asked Liam to be his best man and Liam threw a fit."

Harry blinked and half of him kind of really wanted to remember that, but the other half sensibly reminded him that not remembering a huge, stressful fight was probably better. "Is that why they're hardly seen together in the past few years?" he asked quietly. He'd seen articles online about 'Narry dates' and 'Zouis dates' but never Liam and Zayn. The band still hung out, but not all five of them at once and not Liam and Zayn.

"Yeah," Louis said quietly. After a moment he glanced down at the watch he was wearing and his brow furrowed. "I put Annie down a few hours ago, she should be screaming the house down by now."

"She might be tired from all the commotion," Harry suggested.

"Probably, poor thing," Louis said with a small smile. "I'll go check on her anyway. You want to come?"

"Yeah," Harry said with a smile. They stood up, Louis putting his wine glass down, and made their way out of the living room. Daisy wolf whistled at them and started giggling as Phoebe punched her shoulder, and both Harry and Louis' cheeks went red as they went through the kitchen to get to the stairs.

Harry caught a flash of green in the doorway and he grabbed Louis' arm before he could leave the kitchen, stopping him and pointing upwards. "Mistletoe," he said with a grin, watching Louis closely.

Louis looked up at the plant that certainly hadn't been there during dinner and frowned, looking back at Harry. After a few seconds he seemed to realize what it meant and he started shaking his head, trying to tug his arm away and get out from under the doorway. "Haz, no, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" Harry asked, frustrated. All he wanted to do was kiss a gorgeous man on his birthday and not have to worry about anything else. What were they supposed to do, remain married for the kids but ignore the obvious attraction between them? It had to happen sometime.

"You're just- you're just a kid, Harry," Louis said eventually. "Mentally, you're too young. I couldn't take advantage like that."

"I'm sixteen, not six," Harry said exasperatedly, not letting go of Louis' arm to keep him under the mistletoe. "You've kissed me when I was sixteen before."

"And I was eighteen when I did that," Louis argued.

"I'm old enough to kiss someone, Louis, for crying out loud," Harry groaned. "Its not like I'm asking you to jump into bed with me. Just one kiss."

Louis hesitated and that was all the prompting Harry needed. He pushed the smaller man against the doorframe gently and wrapped an arm around his waist, his other hand going to Louis' hair to grip and tilt his head back. He was barely even thinking as he lowered his head, moving on instinct, and the first touch of their lips had him making a noise and pressing forward for more.

 _LouisLouisLouis_ , the voice in his head chanted. He closed his eyes, licking across the older man's lower lip and when Louis opened his mouth, Harry slid inside. The air between them was so charged he had to wonder how no one was getting burnt but he didn't stop, just pressing their bodies together tightly.

 _LouisLouisLouis_.

Louis made a small, high pitched noise into Harry's mouth and his hands were gripping hard at the taller man's sides, kissing back as if he were starved for it. After not being able to kiss his husband for over a month even though his husband was _right there_ , Harry wasn't surprised.

 _LouisLouisLouisLouis-_ the voice in his head continued, but then it abruptly changed, sounding more feminine and frustrated. _HarryHarryHarry._

"Harry," Louis groaned into his mouth. _Harry. Harry!_

_HARRY!_

Harry jolted awake, breathing hard and his eyes snapping open to look around in confusion. His body felt suddenly cold, missing the warmth of Louis' body. His mother was standing over him and shaking his shoulder, calling his name. "Harry-! Oh, good, you're awake."

"What?" Harry mumbled, sitting up and staring at her in confusion. Anne raised her eyebrows at him and it hit him suddenly that she looked younger. Ten years younger.

"Harry, get up or you'll miss your audition."

"My- what? What audition?" Harry asked, glancing down at his own body and- oh. The smooth, pale expanse of his chest greeted him, a blank canvas that had previously been filled with ink. His tattoos were gone and so were his abs, his baby fat replacing it.

"Your X-Factor audition, the one you've been talking about for months?" Anne said, staring at him like he'd lost his head. Harry was starting to think he might of.

"Where's Louis?" he asked softly, breath hitching.

"Who's Louis?" Anne replied, looking a little concerned now.

"Oh," Harry said softly. It had been a dream. A vivid, crazy dream that had seemed so completely real that even now he still felt that lingering longing in his chest for Louis. Who was apparently a figment of his imagination. "Mum, how old am I again?"

"Honey, are you feeling alright?" Anne asked, leaning forward and pressing her palm to Harry's forehead.

"I'm fine," he pushed her hand away. He wasn't fine. "How old am I?"

"Sixteen," Anne replied with a puzzled expression.

Gone. Louis, Annie, Luke, Jay. All of them gone. All of them something his subconscious had created while he'd been freaking out about his audition. Harry's breath hitched and he had to fight back a sudden onslaught of tears. "O-Okay, thanks, Mum," he forced out. "I'm going to get dressed now."

"Make sure you wear something nice," Anne said, patting his curls and leaving his bedroom. _His_ bedroom, the one in Holmes Chapel. Harry buried his face into his pillow and tried not to scream.

_-_-

He'd gotten through. That was the important thing. Harry tried to tell himself this as he walked down the corridor in the stadium the X-Factor auditions were being held, trying to find a place he could splash his face and try to calm down. He'd gone on stage and sung his heart out, thinking back to the video he'd watched with Louis ( _It was just a dream_ , he reminded himself angrily) of his audition. Harry sang the same song and he'd actually gotten through, surprisingly enough. It didn't do much to help the aching in his chest or how he felt like something had been ripped from him.

He saw a sign with the words MENS TOILETS and an arrow, so he followed it and found himself at a bathroom tucked away from the rest of the crowd. Good. He'd have some time alone to think and maybe try to calm down before he texted his mum to pick him up out front.

He pushed open the door and went straight to the sinks, turning the tap on and shoving his hands under the cold water. The frigid temperature did nothing but make him shiver, but he splashed it over his face anyway.

A toilet flushed and someone came out of a stall, moving to stand in front of the sink next to Harry's. He didn't look up, just leaned over the white plastic and tried to ignore how upset he was over a damn _dream._

"Hi," the person next to him said softly, and Harry looked up so fast his neck cricked.

It was Louis. A much younger, softer version of him, but it was definitely him. Harry's hand slipped on the wet plastic of the sink and accidentally plunged the arm of his hoodie under the tap, getting it soaked, but it didn’t matter because _Louis_ was right in front of him. _His_ Louis, blue eyed and smiling at him.

After a strained pause Harry pulled his arm out from the water and turned the tap off, glancing down at his dripping hoodie. "Oops."

Louis laughed, and fuck. It was the exact same as the one Harry had gotten used to hearing for over a month, except maybe this one was a little higher. "Sorry to awkwardly make conversation in a bathroom of all places, but I just wanted to say I saw your audition. You were really good."

"I, uhm, thanks," Harry managed, not knowing quite what to say. He didn't know what was going on. Had the month and a bit he'd spent with the other Louis been real, then? Had he seen this Louis boy before in passing and managed to dream about him and Harry being married when they were older, and then coincidentally met him the day after the dream?

But no, he remembered looking at the rings on their fingers and asking about the words engraved on them. He remembered Louis sighing and hiding his ring as he told Harry that they were the 'first words we spoke to each other'. And this Louis had said 'Hi' upon seeing him and Harry had awkwardly replied 'Oops' without thinking. That couldn't be a coincidence.

"I think you're really going to make it, mate," Louis said brightly, washing his hands and then drying them on his jeans. "You'll be a right pop star one day, you'll see."

Harry barked out a laugh at that, thinking about _One Direction_ and _Liam and Zayn and Niall_ and _Louis. LouisLouisLouis._ "Thanks," he said again, relaxing a little and smiling at the other boy. He didn't know what was going on but he was just so relieved Louis was actually real that he didn't care.

"No problem, mate," Louis said, grinning cheekily. "In fact, I'm so sure you're going to make it, I'm going to ask for your autograph right now."

Harry's smile widened. He remembered reading an article on how Louis had asked for his autograph when they first met. Too many things were falling into place and he had to admit that somehow he'd either had a premonition of the future or he'd actually time travelled or something. Either way, he was just glad the ache in his chest had disappeared.

"I don't have any paper on me," Harry said, holding out his hands to show he had nothing in them. His left sleeve was still dripping onto the tiled floor.

"That's okay, we can find some," Louis said with a smile, holding out his hand to shake. "I'm Louis, by the way."

 _I know_ , Harry thought. "I'm Harry. Harry Styles."

"I know," Louis said, chuckling. "I saw your audition, remember?"

"Right," Harry said, taking Louis' hand and shaking it firmly. "I'm just about done in here anyway. Should we go look for some paper?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Louis replied, smiling.

_-_-

When Louis pulled back from Harry and opened his eyes, the taller boy's green irises sparkled with warmth and love and none of the hesitance Louis had been seeing the last month or so. Nerves rose in his throat because Harry was just _sixteen_ in his mind and Louis definitely shouldn't be taking advantage of that, but Harry nudged his nose into Louis' cheek and smiled gently.

"Hey, Lou."

"Haz, this was a bad idea," Louis managed shakily, still reeling from the kiss that he'd been starving for.

"Why?" Harry asked, sounding amused.

"You know why," Louis whispered, grip on the taller boy's sides tightening. "You're not mature enough, and I can't-"

"Lou," Harry cut him off, almost laughing and pressing affectionate little kisses over his jaw and cheek. "Lou, baby, sweetheart, boobear. It's me, love. _Your_ Hazza. The one with all the memories."

Louis pulled back in shock and stared at him, eyes wide. "What?"

"It’s a long story, but the watered down version is that its me, and I remember everything of the past ten years," Harry said with a smile. He must have seen the doubt in Louis' eyes, because he rolled his own fondly and shook his head. "We went on that trip to Fiji together two years ago and you confessed to me that you threatened Nick with bodily harm if he didn't stop making snide comments about us."

Louis thought back over the last month or so and tried to remember mentioning that to Harry at any point. He definitely hadn't, and he'd never told anyone else, either. Harry hadn't been in contact with Nick since he'd woken up with no memories, and he knew Harry wouldn't have told someone else so… it all checked out.

"Harry!" he flung himself at his husband and Harry caught him with an 'oof!', laughing and picking Louis up off the ground. "Oh my god. Oh my god. Its you, its really you."

"Its really me," Harry confirmed, pressing a firm kiss to Louis' lips. "Sorry I left you for a while. I didn't mean to, but I really had no control over it."

"I…" Louis trailed off and shook his head slowly. "I want to know everything. But not right now. Right now I want you to take me to bed and fuck me until I can't think straight."

Harry's eyes darkened and he tightened his grip around Louis' waist. "Annie's in our room," he reminded him softly.  
  
"She should be getting up by now anyway, we can take her to Mum to look after while we're busy," Louis said, shaking his head. "You're not getting out of it, Styles. I need you."

"M'not Styles anymore," Harry said with a chuckle, brushing Louis' fringe out of his eyes.

"You'll always be Styles to me."

_-_-

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr [here.](http://www.genuinelystylinson.tumblr.com)  
> Find me on wattpad [here.](http://www.wattpad.com/user/TableForThree)
> 
> (note: I only have Emblem3 fanfictions on that account)
> 
> Also this is NOT an amnesia fic, it's time travel. Just clearing that up!


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